Turkish PM arrives in Cairo as Israel recovers from embassy assault

Turkey will offer aid to secure alliance with Egypt, while Binyamin Netanyahu speaks of ‘very near disaster’ averted Turkey’s prime minister arrives in Cairo on Monday amid speculation that he will attempt to stoke anti-Israeli sentiment following an assault on the Israeli embassy in the Egyptian capital on Friday night. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is embroiled in a separate diplomatic war with Israel over its refusal to apologise for killing of Turkish activists on a Gaza-bound ship 15 months ago, is seeking to strengthen Turkey’s alliance with Egypt to cement and extend its influence in the region. In the first such visit in 15 years, Erdogan is expected to offer the tinterim post-Mubarak government aid and trade deals. Rattled by diplomatic crises on three fronts, Israel fears it is becoming increasingly isolated in the region. The sense of embattlement is heightened by the Palestinians’ bid to have their state recognised at the United Nations in the coming weeks, a move supported by a majority of states. The defence minister, Ehud Barak, said that Israel must face up to its growing isolation. “There is a wide picture forming around us that includes what happened with Turkey, what is happening with Egypt, and what is happening with the Palestinians,” Barak told cabinet colleagues. “These events are not in our control but we can certainly affect the way we face them.” The prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said the attack was a challenge to 32 years of peace between Israel and Egypt, and a “very near disaster” was averted. He told cabinet colleagues that the embassy “symbolises the peace between us and Egypt. This peace is being challenged, and those who are challenging it are challenging not only the policy but also the state known as Israel.” Israel airlifted 86 diplomats and family members from the Egyptian capital after thousands of protesters used sledgehammers to demolish a security wall built around the embassy, allowing a small group to breach the building. Six Israeli embassy staff were under siege for some hours until Egyptian commandos freed them after the White House intervened. Israel has shown restraint in its response to the attack, and is anxious to re-establish a full diplomatic presence to shore up delicate relations between the two countries. Officials were working with the Egyptian government to allow the ambassador, Yitxhak Levanon, to return to Cairo if guarantees regarding the safety of its diplomats were forthcoming. The Egyptian authorities said they had raised security around the embassy. At least 19 people were arrested over the clashes, in which three people died and more than 1,000 were injured. Egypt said those behind the violence would be be tried swiftly in emergency courts. Security was also increased around the Israeli embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The clashes in Cairo followed the killing of five Egyptian soldiers by Israeli forces in the aftermath of a militant attack near the Egypt-Israel border last month. Israel issued a statement of regret and agreed to an investigation, but the incident led to a heightened anti-Israel mood. Further details of Friday night’s drama were disclosed. The Israeli prime minister had been closeted with the defence and foreign ministers, military chief-of-staff and heads of the security agencies in an operations room for most of the night and said that President Obama had become ” involved at a critical time in order to use America’s influence on the issue”. In a TV address on Saturday night, Netanyahu said: “I asked for [Obama's] help. This was a decisive and fateful moment. He said ‘I will do everything I can’. And so he did. He used every considerable means and influence of the United States to help us.” An Israeli security officer inside the embassy, identified only as Yonatan, spoke to the Jerusalem operations room by phone as protesters tried to break into the secure area of the building. He requested that if anything happened to him, his parents be told in person, not by phone. “I got on the phone and I said to him, ‘Yonatan, be strong. I promise you the state of Israel will do everything in its power and will use all possible resources in the world to rescue you’,” Netanyahu said. The security guards built barricades and fired warning shots to deter the protesters. They were eventually rescued by Egyptian commandos who instructed them to put on Arab headdress and clothing. However, an unnamed Israeli security source quoted by the Ynet news website said reports of a near-lynching were exaggerated: “I have spoken to [Yonatan] and the reports do not exactly reflect reality.” Egypt Israel Turkey Jordan Recep Tayyip Erdogan Binyamin Netanyahu Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Barack Obama Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk

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